Trea Turner sets stolen base record for Washington Nationals (kind of)
Washington Nationals shortstop Trea Turner’s 42 steals is the most in a season for a player with the name Washington Nationals on the jersey.
In the Washington Nationals’ 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday, shortstop Trea Turner had two steals to up his season total to 42. Those 42 steals moved him past Alfonso Soriano’s 2006 total of 41 for most in a season in Washington Nationals’ history. While that’s technically true, it’s not the whole story.
The team now known as the Washington Nationals came into being in 2005, but they were officially the Montreal Expos for 36 seasons before that, even if diehard Expos fans wouldn’t agree. It’s true that Turner is the single-season leader in steals for the team called the Washington Nationals, but if you include the Expos players, Turner is tied with Delino DeShields for 20th on the single-season steals list for the franchise.
Of course, the base stealer Expos fans remember most is recent Hall of Famer Tim Raines. He holds eight spots in the top 20, including six seasons with 70 or more steals. Raines was an incredible player during his Expos years. In the nine full seasons he played with the team, he hit .302/.391/.439 and averaged 96 runs and 62 steals per season. He also led the NL in steals four times as an Expo.
As good as Raines was, he isn’t the single-season leader in steals for the franchise. Raines topped out at 90 steals in 1983. Ron LeFlore stole 97 bases for the Expos in 1980. Those were different times. When LeFlore stole 97 bases in 1980, he barely led the National League because Omar Moreno had 96. Over in the American League, Rickey Henderson stole an even 100.You don’t see players stealing that many bases these days, which makes sense with all the home runs flying out of the park. Why risk getting caught stealing when the guy at the plate can knock you in with a four-bagger?
Major League Baseball in Washington, D.C. is a muddled story. The current Washington Nationals were previously the Expos. The current Texas Rangers and the current Minnesota Twins were both previously the Washington Senators.
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Let me explain. The Washington Senators who became the Minnesota Twins go back to 1901 and existed until 1960 before moving to Minnesota. This is the team of Walter “Big Train” Johnson, one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. The Walter Johnson Washington Nationals won the World Series in 1924 and are still the only Washington D.C.-based team to do so.
The Washington Senators who became the Texas Rangers go back to 1961 and existed until 1971 before moving to Texas. This is the team of Frank Howard, also known as “Hondo.” He was a gentle giant of a man who is listed at six-foot-seven and 255 pounds. He twice led the American League in home runs and was a four-time All-Star for the Senators from 1968 to 1971.
So Trea Turner has the most steals as a Washington Nationals player, but not the most steals in franchise history because the Nationals are considered the same franchise as the Expos. How does Turner rate among all players on the three different Washington D.C.-based teams?
The single-season steals leader for the 1901-1960 Washington Senators is Clyde Milan, who had 88 in 1912. He also had the second-most steals in a season when he stole 75 in 1913. Turner’s current total of 42 steals would place him just outside the top 10 for this version of Washington baseball.
The 1961-1971 Washington Senators didn’t have base stealers in the class of Trea Turner. Their single-season leader was Ed Stroud, who stole 29 bases in 1970. That was the most steals Stroud ever had in a season and the only time he stole more than 15. Chuck Hinton had three seasons of 20 or more steals with this version of the Washington Senators and holds four of the top six spots on their single-season list.
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It should be noted that Turner has 42 steals in just 89 games. At that pace, he could steal 70 to 80 bases in a season, which would put him in the mix for a top 10 spot on the Expos/Nationals list and in the top three for any MLB team based in Washington since 1901. We might see him do that next season if he can stay healthy the whole year.